It could have been any of us on that balcony

The J1 was one of those seminal, brilliant summers where everything was possible, writes David McWilliams.

People attend a memorial for those who lost their lives after a balcony gave way in Berkeley, CaliforniaJosh Edelson/AFP/Getty
People attend a memorial for those who lost their lives after a balcony gave way in Berkeley, CaliforniaJosh Edelson/AFP/Getty

The first days on the J1 were like the Gaeltacht with dollars. On the first night, loads of young Irish students from all over the country were thrown together in the New York YMCA with no real idea of what to do next, desperately trying to figure out where to live, who to hang out with, ...